inside the washington times. the latest on that story that many of you heard about. he talk about this on the ifhingtonalan gomes of "usa too you're interested in that, go to our website, c-span.org. scottsdale, arizona, republican collar. what are your thoughts on the majority leader eric cantor losing in the primary last night? caller: hi, greta. i am ecstatic about it. i am a tea party member. when the democrats, with their propaganda saying we are on the right side of the republican out and outis an lies. the situation is we are wanting toget our constitution back this country. just like the children coming across the border. to put $1 billion toward those

children is a joke. it is against the constitution. the border should be shut down 100%. i do not care we have every military take on the border. if that is what it takes, that is what it takes. but going back to the election, he says, the gentleman who won the election, he said point blank if it was not for the grassroots tea party people, he would not have had a chance. and he went in with the least amount of money. here is one thing -- as a campaign slogan, i believe i want to see somebody say these words -- i am going to run on lowering the cost of living for every american, so how can the democrats be against that? with abody came up slogan and said we're going to take the energy of this country and all of our natural resources and actually compete in the world, which will lower the cost of energy, and that means bring abarrel of oil down to $39

barrel, that brings us down to one dollar a gallon, and that cost of reducing that amount of energy saved this country trillions of dollars. and that is why we need the tea party people in the united states, the people who believe in the constitution and the rule of law -- host: alan, let me ask you this about going forward. what do you think this means for leadership yucca would you like to see a challenge to the speakership? caller: well, yeah, absolutely. i sit back and say there are two things that the republican party in the house could have done, burstat is they had the through the united states, and they could have shot all of these things down that obama is doing.

do all of these things that are against the rule of law, and our now, this is showing attorney general is going to go after the boy scouts. take the $1 billion you would get to the border and give it to the the a hospital. muchthere there is so corruption. that is our topic coming up next, we're going to talk to paul gosar. he met with acting secretary gibson. we will get to that right after this news update for c-span radio. 8:03 eastern time. more on the loss to economics professor david brat. the hill has canceled a speech

before the national association of manufacturers according to a matter.amiliar with the senator chris coons, a democrat from delaware, will be taking his place. no other detail or explanation was given. the air force says it will offer bonus money and other incentives to members of its nuclear missile corps as part of a broader plan to fix what ails the force. training failures, more all problems, and breakdowns in discipline prompted defense secretary hagel restore public confidence in a nation's nuclear force. the potential impact of these and other planned changes is unclear but report said there likely to be welcomed by airmen. turning to iraq. the country oppose the prime minister speaking earlier on the sidelines of a meeting of the european union and arab league foreign members th say the northernollowing city to insurgents is a fatal

iraq.n -- to that response had to come in his words "soon." those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> we will need to learn again how to work together, how to compromise, how to make pragmatic decisions. in the upcoming midterm elections, americans will have choices to make over which path they want to go down it whether they make the investment we need in our people. i will leave that discussion to others. us, in theot of private and nonprofit sectors, we have work to do, to. o. government does not have a monopoly on good ideas, obviously, and even if it wanted, it could not and should not try to solve all the problems by itself.

we have responsibilities to do what we can. >> hillary clinton's latest book is called "hard choices," about her time as secretary of state and how her experiences there she purview of the future. friday live on c-span two. watch booktv covers of secretary clinton starting at 6:00 p.m. eastern with a book signing in arlington virginia live at 11:00 a.m. eastern. both events will air saturday night starting at 8:30. booktv -- television for serious readers, every weekend on c-span 2. "washington journal" continues. host: we're back with congressman paul gosar. we want to get to the v.a. issue, but i first want to start off by getting your reaction to the results of the seventh congressional district, the republican primary there. cantor,er two, eric your majority leader, was defeated. what is your reaction? america is scared and

america is angry. they want to be included in discussions, whether it be immigration, the v.a., the economy. they want to be heard, they want a dialogue, and they want their voices to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. majoritynk maybe the leader spent maybe too much time here and now looking at his back door. awful lot for the party. he goes all over the country. that is one of the things that consult leadership. he is good at that. maybe that also heard. moneyhe raise a lot of for colleagues. have you ever raise money? guest: i like eric. i was a dentist impersonating a politician. i was not even on most people's radar screens. eric has been helpful to me. positionsrship

-- he was speaking to groups, asking for money. this is a price he paid probably on behalf of the republican party. host: everyone in washington say they are shocked by the outcome. no one saw it coming. guest: there were some inclinations. at least some of the reports were saying he started seeing this uptake with brat in regards to his polling and catching on ground, so i think they saw something coming. was it too little too late? that is from the insider's perspective. host: what do you think this does to the leadership ranks? guest: i think it is a warning shot not only to republican leaders but also democratic leaders. ike i said before, america -- i have gone to different areas around the group, i am accessible. people are scared right now and they are very angry with politics as usual. they want to be included in the solution. they want to understand and have

a conversation. it is not want to be talked down to. it is not want to be dictated to. they want to have a hand in the solution. host: would you like to see all of the current leadership step aside and have some new faces, some new voices in there? guest: a lot of prominent people have said i want choice when it comes to leadership. i want accountability. aterved my constituency their pleasure, leadership serves as our pleasure as well. i think they have to acknowledge ist the constituent base wanting in doing and have a direction and a strategy. that is one of the things that i set up from day one, i see a lack of strategy with republicans, the republican party. host: who do you think in the conference right now represents the voice you are looking for? guest: i still think they are looking for a. i do not think there is one person i can put a bullet on, but i am a sophomore. i came in the big class of 2010.

we are a very different group. fix things, here to and it is really frustrating and washington, d.c. when you cannot fix things. host: what do you think of the tea party movement? you came in with tea party support in your district. what do you make of that? guest: once again, give me 10 active people and i will take them. you can conquer a lot. they want to get back to constitutional values, rule of law. i have been one of those people talking about rule of law. an attorney general that skips and chooses whatever law he wants to look at. he does not fit the parameters on the president. he does not say hey, listen, you cannot go there, that is not part of your constitutional background or duties. standpoint, america wants to get back to constitution, values, and get back to dreaming. they are scared.

they want to see what opportunity is in a the opportunity fading. host: let's talk about the veterans affairs situation. you met recently with the acting be a secretary in phoenix. at one of the facilities that has been in the headlines. what did you learn from the acting v.a. secretary. guest: he is not your typical bureaucrat. he has got some good moxie and solution process. he spoke very, very well. he listened. it was a very dynamic interchange. attendance there. this is something on my radar screen, greta, before i came to congress. i wanted my veterans to be able to stay home, pick the dr. they choose. that is how you build communities is allowing people to stay home and utilize the services that they have in their hometown. that is a dynamic community. as a health care provider, people are happy with someone that they choose and pick, and that is part of the problem with the v.a..

i want to see a dynamic scheduling opportunity and have a very open and vibrant, cloud base. i was looking at this before we saw the scandal, so we actually got something on the table that we want to be asking the secretary to take a look at. and i am not going to go away. ira present most of rural arizona. most of a role arizona. i want the same opportunities that metropolitan areas have. i want them to be able to blindly use the resources that are already present in said of rebuilding a dinosaur for an infrastructure -- i wanted to be using the current system. host: the house passed legislation last night. how does it address the problems that you are talking about? guest: it is giving opportunity so we can start looking at allowing veterans to pick and choose and make sure that the universe ise inverse i

the veterans, not the system, so the access is given to the secretary to expand. what my good friend, ed pastore, who is an appropriator, has said it is not about money. it is not about money, it is andt articulating prioritizing how you spend that and make sure it is patient centered, friendly type of health care. what is the difference between the house passed last night and the bill making its way for the floor for debate and possibly a vote? still be thel dinosaur utilizing bva's services, but they expanded if they cannot get those services with the the v.a. system, that they can go beyond that. i want us to open that up. i want to see my veterans, make sure they're getting be preventative care and access to care, and then we can see how everything shapes up, making sure that we have a contract opened up so we have as many

providers as we can to serve. the bottleneck occurs when we have limitations on the providers, we want to open that up. sanders,nie independent of vermont, chairman of the senate veterans affairs committee with our guest here on the "washington journal." he brokered the senate legislation with your arizona colleague, senator john mccain, republican there. here is what he had to say to our reviewers yesterday about the differences between the two bills. [video clip] >> the house has focused primarily on management issues, and they had a bill, which was a pretty simple bill, that said the secretary has the power to fire. immediately. i objected to that because i think that you do not want to put the v.a. in a position of being politicized, so you have a new president coming in, and

you have all these high-level executives, and for lee years later a new president comes in, and then you politicize the v.a. the the v.a. is a health care program. progressives, conservatives, democrats, republicans -- you are paying them to be health care providers. without due process, somebody could be fired because of their race or sexual orientation. we put in a very expedited process that has a very short period of appeal. host: congressman, your reaction. anybodye have not seen be fired here and washington, d.c. from lois lerner on up. so that is articulated in the house bill. that is very important. there are consequences for bad actions. gett of vets will say they fairly good care once they get through system and go through the system, but also we don't

see the same response all the way across the board. we want to make sure that care is given directly inappropriately to our veterans, and it has a lot to do with management style because they are the ones on the topic heading from the top down how that care is adjudicated. criminaluld there be prosecutions against those in the v.a. facility? guest: i agree with mr. sanders that they need to process, but i want people to be responsible. from what we saw in phoenix where they actually were shredding documents -- that is criminal. people are always do their day in court to defend themselves, but if the chips fall that way, they should be fired without pensions. host: explain how the system works in phoenix, since you are familiar with that one. a vet calls up and wants to get an appointment. what happened? s? guest: it depends. where do they have an opening? it is a bottleneck at the scheduling.

but the doctor will say we do not have the opportunity, move them off to the side, so that it looks like when we have an actual opening, we move them from one list to the next list to make them look like there is an appropriation, they were seen in an appropriate timeframe, so they were using an alternative scheduling system based upon management of services. the: people have said that system is broken. when they say that, for a small, do you agree? what do you mean by the system is broken? this is a single-payer dictating health care. like obamacare, this is where they're going with single-payer. that is what is scaring everybody. you have fewer choices of doctors, fewer choices of opportunity of clinics, and these services are dictated by a government base aspect. --ta, this was heroic hideous.

when you look at my first term, i represented a lot of native american tribes, and members of the military were having to -- veterans were having to spend a week hitchhiking across the reservation just to pick up a v.a. band and be transported all phoenix orn to b tucson just for an initial exam. that is ridiculous trying to see this arcane type of methodology. our veterans deserve the best. host: we want to invite our viewers to call in and talk with congressman paul gosar, republican of arizona. he sits on the reform committee. talking about the v.a. health care. we have a fourth line for veterans this morning. the numbers are on your screen. veterans, we want to hear from you, (202) 585-3883. we go to beverly first, carolina, democratic caller. oh, we lost her. we go to thomas in boca raton, florida. you are on the air with the congressman. caller: yes, mr. congressman, i

am a bit non-veteran, purple veteran,i am a vietnam purple heart. my question is -- what is happening with the veterans affairs association. it seems like it has been brought out to light through fox news and other affiliated news networks about the v.a. system is paying people and being rewarded for it not doing what they are paid to do. host: ok, mr. gosar. guest: there is a backward and sensitization program, you are exactly right, tom, that is wrong. it atop a patient's first, they put bureaucrats for us. -- it does not put patients first, it puts you bureaucrats first. it is not mandating that we're are seeing our veterans on a priority scale but being based upon the system by the way the

bureaucrats have devised it. this has been seen to be dictated by the top down. -- it is aitter worthless bill that has bernie sanders' name on it. he is not going to punish working people in the government. guest: that is one of the trinity. you have a democratic-controlled senate, you have a republican controlled house. they still want the system to work. i do not see the system working unless you open it up and create a patient-centered model, but you also have to remember that that is not what the administration wants, either, because they will show you signs of what obamacare is coming, and if you unfold the v.a. and break it up, you are going to have to break up obamacare. the senateu support bill brokered by chairman sanders and senator john mccain? the rightis a step in direction, but we need to address it by looking at the management aspect, making sure they are putting resources in.

i want to see the magnitude of the problem. i want to see our of that get initial -- i want to see our vets get initial appointments. of thehe chairman veterans affairs committee, bernie sanders, has said that once veterans get into the v.a. health care system, that they are very happy. they have high customer service ratings when they get in. he says the system does work. guest: when you finally get service, i mean, something is better than nothing, and i don't applaud that. what i want to do is i want to give the opportunities -- just last week, we found out there was no neurologist that is on staff. how sad is that aspect? i talked to veterans all the time. they articulated their very happy getting the crumbs off the

table. the crumbs off the table is not exactly what i think is quality health care. i want us to serve them, making a patient centered, patient friendly health-care system. i do not like what we had before, i do not like what we have now. i want them to have a best he has that is what our promise was. to the vietnam vet that first called him, i want to thank our vietnam veterans. they were not treated when they came home right, and what they have come is raised voices to make sure that all of our vet to return home are never treated that way again, so i want to complement all of our vietnam vets for standing up and being heard. host: another tweet from breaker who want to know -- why did the v.a. and congress not prepare for returning vets? they knew i had large number of vets were coming home. guest: they should have, but out of sight, out of mind. this bureaucracy and washington, d.c. does not want to change. they want to change the political class. the elections with eric cantor shows you that

something has got to change your. people need to be heard and solutions need to be put on the table. host: the senate legislation includes $500 million for more doctors and nurses that the a facilities. does that begin to address -- is there a shortage? pastore whois ed constantly says it is not about more money. we actually put more money in more and eva is bankrolled money than they ever spent, so why are we throwing more money at a broken system? why are we not looking at the scheduling aspect so everybody wheree and put a veteran an opening exists, and also corresponding to making sure they are checked and followed up on. this is not rocket science. i was a dentist with electronic records for many years. this is something you can base an hour patient centered health care system, but you have to admit what you're doing right now is wrong. joyce in colorado city,

independent caller. caller: hi. i was wanting to ask -- hello? ok, i was wanting to ask about bonuses, if they are getting rid of the bonus structure that seems to exist in the v.a. and the irs. second question -- is this throughout our government, this bonus business that seems to encourage people to miss behave? bonus system the is rampant in government, so this has nothing to do with the according to i the v.a. secretary sloan, the bonus system has gone by the wayside incentivese that they had built an prior to his arrival. how long, once again, bad apples tend to create the same

bureaucracy that they get away from, especially when the limelight takes its eyes off you. that is why it is important for us to have the scrutiny and keep this in our vision over time. host: speaking of scrutiny and oversight, do you think this should be an issue that the oversight and government reform committee takes up and do not necessarily -- or in conjunction with the veterans affairs committee ts? guest: i think that is an opportunity for us. hascommittee i said on jurisdiction everywhere, but most of the time it is secondary to the committees of reference. i think if the need comes about in remedying this, i think chairman eyes that would be glad to. host: no rumor that he will do that. guest: not at this point in time. host: we go to william next, east georgia, go ahead.

caller: i used the v.a. center in dublin, georgia, which is excellent health care. i have never had to wait for anything in that center. -- i do agree with you management is the problem. they don't even know what a veteran is, most of them. of theseorrect a lot problems, we have got people coming out of the military every day. we have got independent duty medical arsenal coming out and enlisted personnel that would make excellent health care providers. they know the military, so it should be 60% veterans working others, andand 40%

get rid of the union. thank you. host: ok, all right, william. guest: i am glad you are getting be health care you deserve and you are happy with that. that is what we want all veterans to have. and veterans to provide great service to the other veterans because if you walk a mile in their moccasins, you will see that shows. but i am not a big believer in quotas and demanding assertiveness and its working certain way. i am a believer in process, and that works from the top down. when you empower people for solutions and success and give them the tools in which to manage that, you will find success. that is what you want a private sector type of mindset on here, and i think that is what the acting secretary brings to the table. i like his attitude. andi want to see facts background and success be implemented on his behalf. it shows a definite track record of success.

host: the decision happening right now to replace them, to have a permanent veterans affairs secretary after general shinseki stepped down. who do you think should fill that slot? do you have any names of any person you are like to see coming? guest: i am not a veteran. i have not served. but i want somebody who has ideas to empower people for solutions processes because this is bigger than one person. but i also want them to hold accountability. i believe private sector is the right way to go. i like what i heard from acting secretary sloan. i want somebody that may have been in the corporate world but also in the nonprofit world. when you get the biggest and for the buck. number two is that you are patient centered or environment friendly where you take the veteran, make that a friendly exercise. and then something that people love all different types of assets are allowed to expand and prosper in an environment where you are rewarded for exceptional, going above and

beyond, instead of just doing average work. host: that he is joining evans is joining usy in sandusky, ohio. caller: my house was just released from the cleveland the v.a. hospital last friday by the chief of urology, which is an excellent department. they keep talking about waiting lists. yes, it is terrible for the waiting lists. what is the waiting list for the private sector? waiting list for the medicaid people who cannot get into see a doctor or a dentist? in our area, there is no dentist that will see a medicaid patient. you're on a clinic. what is their waiting list? the reason is -- there are no statistics on that, so you were the private section. they will be put on another waiting list. host: all right, betty. we will take your point.

guest: you bring up a great question. to beould not be having forced to do a service when you have a patient sitting in the chair. when you look at the medicaid lists, being a provider from rural america, the government will run up a bill, and then it will come at the end of the year they listen, we'll you $30,000. when you take $6,000? the bureaucracy is unmanageable. it should be about patient centered type of health care system where there is market-based to it, but you are exactly right. when you do not compensate people appropriately, you're not going to get providers. there are problems and medicaid, medicare. because we have a broken health-care system. obamacare did not fix that. it just is another attempt at not looking at the basic building rocks. -- basic building blocks. women know exactly what they want. they want to have choice, and when you compare one insurance

plan versus another, they want to make sure they get what they are entitled to by contract. we are not talking about that. we are mismanaging it from the top-down instead of from the bottom up. that is why i want to engage america to rebuild the health care system because we are spending so much money in this. at indian health services, from medicare, medicaid, the va.a. why don't we get back to the building blocks? what hurts, how can i help you? what do you want, how do you want to build a? you have got some great ideas. the what i have seen, register not washington, d.c., they exist in mainstream america. host: don on twitter ask this -- did you vote to cut vets' benefits? and another -- just converts have oversight on the v.a., if so, how long have they had this oversight and why did they not do anything years ago? guest: well, congress does have

oversight on the v.a. the problem is there are so many things we are not entitled to get information until there is actually a broken system. that is what is causing problematic areas is that we peanut, we can i get the information, but a private citizen can. information is everything. we have not quite seen that with this administration. to cut that benefits, no, i have not done that. enefits, no.ts' b i have not voted to do that. but i want to veterans to come to the table too, because they're part of the solution. host: stephen, you are on the air with congressman paul gosar. morning,ood congressman. i just lost my primary care physician for my veteran center, and she said it is exactly about money, that the v.a. cannot compete with the private sector. she is leaving the v.a. for more than double her salary. that is my first point.

care, i am if i get a low income disabled veteran, neither not have to pay copayments, please do not send us into a private system of reimbursement because then you will refuse to reimburse it and you will have poor people out there stuck with being. my back went out, and i called the v.a., and they said get an ambulance down here, we will reimburse you for the cost of the ambulance. i send the bill in, they turned it down. so if you throw us into the private sector, that is going to start all over him. host: steve, are you still there? finish your thought. myler: i am very happy with care right now, but i did not get to see doctors. i only get to see physicians assistants. i have not seen a doctor in over a year because they can't afford to pay them the competitive costs. guest: steve, i disagree with that. they have rolled billions of dollars over. it is just about a prioritization based on leadership.

empowering doctors and people that actually serve the veterans instead of the management. that is what is key here. it is not about the money. it is about how we prioritize spending the money and the contracts of pay a fair wage to our surgeons and physicians in regards to getting that care to the veterans. as a republican, like i said before, i am willing to take over the checkbook to make sure that this actually works because i know i can spend it much better than a bureaucracy that says listen, has to be managed ofa dinosaur or our type clinics instead of a free market base. we have a republican and veteran on the air from georgia. go ahead. caller: yes, ma'am, i've seen on the news where they passed a bill stating that we can go to see private doctors.

i live in our half or two hours away from a clinic. i would love very much to be able to go see a doctor close by. host: is that issue being addressed? guest: that is one of the things being looked at them both bills, given the opportunity if there are i distance away, trying to make sure that that private providers that are closer to their region. there is discretion being built in this so that the management will decide instead of making sure that a more broad slate, , finding thate schedule for a veteran that is more closely and more timely in regards to that bill. i want to see much more broader based on the scheduling aspect. the scheduling will set you free. you butwant to ask captured sergeant bowe bergdahl. should the oversight and inform committee take on that topic? it is a goodk

opportunity for us to look at any foreign affairs aspect in regards to the unmanaged implications given by five generals for one american soldier. this is unprecedented that we are negotiating with a terrorist group instead of a sovereign state. so we have a plate full with all the different things going on a government oversight. it needs to be looked at. congressman paul gosar, republican of arizona, appreciate your time. coming up next, we will talk courtney, democrat of connecticut, about loan payments. we will be right back. ♪ "sundays atnew book eight" includes kenneth feinberg. >> from the perspective of the

victims, i do not see any distinction. if you try to justify my program on the basis of the victims lost, i cannot. i cannot convincingly explain why 9/11, yes, 1993 world trade center no. i think the only way you justify this program as a special carve out is from the perspective of the nation. wascognition that 9/11 along with the american civil war, pearl harbor, maybe the assassination of president -- its impact11 on the american people was such that this was really a response to demonstrate be solidarity and cohesiveness of the american people towards these victims. >> read more of our conversation with kenneth feinberg and other

featured interviews from our book notes and q&a program in " from's "sundays at eight public affairs books, now available as a father's day gift at your favorite bookseller. years, c-span brings public affairs offends from washington directly to you putting you in the room at , congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and conferences, and offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house -- all as a public service of private industry. we are c-span -- created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. "washington journal" continues. host: and we back with congressman joe courtney, democrat of connecticut. he is also on the armed services panel. i want to talk about student loans. we will go there, but let's talk

about what happened in the seventh congressional district of virginia, the primary loss for majority leader eric cantor number two in the house. guest: right. obviously, it was an historic moment. it is never happen ever that a majority leader was defeated in a primary. clearly there is something significant that i think people are going to be sifting through over the next 24, 48 hours or so. to me, it really undermines the narrative that has been out there that the republican party is in the process of sort of self-correcting and becoming a more moderate political institution. i do not see that in terms of just the demographics of the party nationally, in terms of who still identifies as a republican in who participate in commencement and primaries, and mr. cantor hady, been campaigning with a pretty hardline message about anti-immigration, standing up to so he seems to,,

be pushing all of the buttons that would appeal to that base, but clearly it was not enough. and i think both were incumbents in that caucus and i think for people who view that party as a vehicle to promote progrowth policies like immigration reform -- i think there will be a lot of soul-searching today about how stable that governing caucus is. host: do you think there is a political lesson for democrats? guest: i actually think that we should be asking pretty forthright about the fact that for people who really identify , like the skills gap in our country in terms of workforce needs, investing in education, which we will talk about this morning, but again, i think it is so central to trying growthn have a rise in

in this country. i think we are the governing institution, or the political institution that people who care about that, particularly in the business community, should really take a second look at. immigration reform, which again seems to be the battle cry in this primary, this is one of the top issues for the u.s. chamber of commerce, for the american farm bureau, because they have clearly identified a broken immigration system as one of the reasons why they are having trouble finding people to go out there and milk the cows and pick the crops in areas of hospitality, the systems that we have in place are broken. u.s. chamber -- and i spoke before my chamber of commerce in southeastern connecticut about 10 days ago, and was asked repeatedly about when is the house leadership going to bring us the bipartisan senate immigration bill. and clearly what happened last night does not order well for people in the business community

, the agriculture community, the roman catholic church, which organized a pro-immigration roundtable in my district a few days ago, faith-based groups who have been sort of hoping that speaker boehner and mr. cantor were going to at least allow a vote to take place on this. i think they're going to really have to pause and say wait a minute, is this caucus, is this political institution, the national republican party, one that is prepared to work with people who care about trying to make sure that we have a workforce that can get basic essential activity done for this country. the: people are saying that majority lost because he was for reform.ion you say he was arguing the opposite. guest: his campaign message is were i am against amnesty. he has blocked consideration of the bill.

it is not that he has ever made any commitment to bring it up. host: and then you have after he gets his concessions beats last night, he talked to reporters, he walks away, and pro-immigration folks, protesters make their way into the ballroom where he was giving his speech, demanding that there be immigration reform in this country. guest: well, and again, i am sure his head is spinning right now in fairness to him in terms to sort ofs going response to something like that, but clearly -- he is a gatekeeper for what gets voted on on the floor. and we know that well. and so it is not totally a surprise to groups that care about this issue are focused on his office in his district, but whether or not what happened last night is going to make that anymore feasible -- i mean, obviously most people would say the party is probably going to be into an even deeper crotch in

terms of not sort of allowing this boat to take place, which before myhen i was chamber of commerce, when i was before faith-based groups who on balance are probably moderate to right on the spectrum, they are looking for action on this issue. host: all right, let's get to our topic here that originally we were going to talk about, which is the student lone ranger, and the "washington post '-- student loan rate, and the "washington post" reporting. i was on hereme about a year ago, we were still wrestling with the fact that interest rates were going to go tofor new loans last year 6.8%. actually, and one of the few moments of bipartisan teamwork, we did pass a measure which avoided that increase, so again students who took out loans in the last school year got an interest rate of 3.8% rather than 6.8%, which is what was in the baseline of the stafford

student loan law. that obviously provided some relief, but as you point out, there is an overhang of student loan debt, $1.2 trillion for loans that have been taken out in the past. the program that the president expanded on monday, the pay as you are an program, is a program that allows people to cap your monthly payment at 10% of their adjusted gross income, so if someone is just out of college, they have got $800 a month in student loans, and a woman sitting behind me in the east room was describing that as her budget right now, again, with is uncommon -- if her income at a point where it would be below 10% of her income, it would be capped at 10%, so that is obviously going to provide some relief for individuals. the other thing, and i think it cusreally important to fo on this for a moment, he said

they're going to renegotiate with loan servicers to provide a point of contact for people, debtors who were struggling with their payments. today they do not help people who are paying student loan debt about the pay as you own program or the income base program, his atdecessor, which cap said 15%. so the participation level for people across the country is actually quite dismal. host: and the president wants to expand it to $5 million more. guest: again, when you're struggling with your bills in the phones start ringing and the e-mails started coming in, and e-mail starts coming in from sallie mae, which is the institution that does these servicing, they have to be part of the solution here. they have got to tell people hey, if you are struggling with your bills, here is this program at the department of education that you can enroll in. so that is an important part of what he ordered on monday, which is that these servicers, who again do not share that information hardly at all have

got to now basically build that into their communication systems with people who are struggling to pay their bills. frankly, the department has got to do a better job. doe does not make it that easy for people to sign up for it. lastly, i think it is important to mention that the president did endorse senator elizabeth warren's bill which would allow people with high interest rates, both private and public student loans to refinance down their interest rates to 3.8%. we have a companion bill in the house, which i'm a cosponsor a, john turney, george miller are the lead sponsors of it, and that is what middle-class families do today when they have home mortgages with high interest rates, they take advantage of low rates that are out there in the economy, but private student loan rates can be as high as 12% because bank underwriting for student loans basicallyvate sector

treat people as high risk when you're 18 years old, 19 years old with no collateral and going into borrow money. host: let's get our viewers involved. we have a fourth line for students and parents as well, (202) 585-3883 is your line. -- we gocap refers and se to ca kathryn first in staten island, new york. caller: good morning. i do not understand why all of this outrage because the guy lost last night. nobody should be surprised because people got fired. don't you see? we all see what is going on. we all work for groceries, for big companies, they want their salaries to go down lower and lower or the american people. they are not working, ok, so i do not see why -- millions and millions are already here, why not stop them coming in?

anybody can walk in at the borders. host: ok, catherine. that is the great thing about democracy is that everybody is held accountable, and i think if you look at the specifics in terms of the race that was going on, i do not think the challenger is going to provide the kind of change that thatescribed, and i think is what a lot people are going to be spending a lot of time in the next couple of weeks or so. again, the challenger -- if you look at the message -- is really not going to provide the kind of help and relief for people who are at the low end. he is against raising the he is somebody who things consumer protections in terms of banking and issues like the ones we just talked about, student loans, should not be an appropriate role for the government. i think people who supported that person in the hopes of that kind of change are going to be

disappointed. host: congressman joe courtney serving his fourth term, represents the second district of connecticut. here to talk about student loans. let me show you cnn money chart of the united states. this breaks down each state and the average debt. in florida, 51% of graduates with debt. a parents and republican caller from florida, go ahead. caller: my son is an adult, married, father of two children. my question is -- is he personally responsible or is this based on the income of the family? spouse and his own income. guest: it is based on adjusted gross income of the family. you toould encourage inquire with the department of education if he is dealing with sallie mae to ask about income-based repayment and pay as you earn, and call your

member of congress. we have an active caseworker who deals with student loan debt and eastern connecticut, or you can call my office, and we would be happy to try to connect you with the right place to get those kinds of questions answered. host: so the pay as you learn program that president obama and, just in case you missed it, at 10% ofly payments income. the remaining debt is forgiven after 20 years, so 10 years for those in public service jobs. so taxpayers will be on the hook, right? guest: this was part of the student aid and fiscal responsibility act of 2010, which again had a built-in pay for because we took banks out in terms of their origination fees that they used to collect for basically doing little or nothing, so there is no question that this will not add to the deficit. wendyankly, i think stafford student loan program was created back in the 1960's, there was a recognition that as a nation we should be trying to make higher education affordable

. the student aid and fiscal responsibly ask, which again put in place the mechanisms of the people would not get smothered by debts is perfectly consistent with that policy. host: john is in herndon, virginia, democratic caller, go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. congressman, with all due respect, i think the reason eric cantor lost last night -- he was not doing anything for this country. he took this country hostage. he is not putting any bill on the floor. the only reason he lost last night is more democrats are voting for tea party. but again, i want to say this to you. i am a democrat and a republican. as far as i'm concerned, you guys are not doing anything for this country because we have selected the conversational to do their job, and they are doing

nothing. it is not going to help this country. host: ok, john, let me take his point and shift it to the student loan debate. does that have to happen by the executive branch? the senate is working on legislation. could not be two sides come together and address this topic ? guest: sure. he laughed the most here, we had this cliff approaching where rates were going to go to 6.8%. the house leadership was avoiding that spike in interest rates, which would have affected 15 million students across the country last fall when they were .n rolling for the school year to get to john's point, i organized and was on the floor every single day warning people that your constituents are about to get hit with interest rates that are totally out of sync with what credit cards cost and home mortgages, etc., and we were able to break through that gridlock. this bill was signed into law with democrats and republicans

standing behind president obama in august and protected students from a spike in interest rates. in the president today talking about student loans, the sun is going to take a vote later in a few hours or so to try to force congress to address this issue, and john, i have a front-row seat for the gridlock. it is bad. but having said that, i am somebody out there who is working to use both external pressure and internal pressure to give 15 million students help, which clearly is one of the biggest challenges facing middle-class family today. host: eric on twitter says this is just a band-aid on a big economic problems. forgive student loans and make all higher education three. he should look closer at senator warren's bill.

warren buffett our early light out to the country about a year ago. in fact, we are using a mechanism to pay for this, which is about income inequality, and helping people break down their affordable to an place. i would argue that the students emergency refinancing act is completely consistent with the idea that robin laid out. journal" "wall street -- the latest student loan charade was their editorial recently and in it they write that a lot of these bar or worse cannot generate the income to service this debt, especially when so many of them cannot get decent jobs. guest: yeah, it cracked me up when it is the "wall street journal" sort of lecturing the

administration that we do not have enough growth when they are a paper that is pushing their agenda over the last few years, which is taking fiscal policy off the table in terms of trying to stimulate more growth. i agree. i have got kids in their theirn my family, and friends are out there working hard to try to find work, but the bottom line is, to tell people well, we're just going to turn a deaf ear to the fact that you are paying interest rates far above what else is out there in the economy is ridiculous. there are solutions to these problems, and yes, we need to promote more growth, hire more people. had somewhat encouraging last friday with jobs, but the fact of the matter is we cannot use that as an excuse to do nothing on the issue of high interest payments. host: here is another tweet -- it is bad enough that students are profit centers. built into

income-based payback" in principle. guest: if the person goes off the partial financial assistance because their income grows to a point where they exceed that 10% assistance, and pay as you are in, there is some recapitalization where the principle is adopted, so i do not think that statement is totally accurate. there is no question that in some instances they just do recapitalize the remaining debt obligation, but again the bottom line is should we leave people in a situation where they are --ing $800,000, $900,000 that is not helping their financial situation. host: has it occurred to the representative that one government guarantees loans, colleges, universities have no incentive to keep tuition reasonable? what isf you look at the cost driver for tuition, 70% of college students in america

go to public institutions. i went to uconn a long time ago, and the president talked about this on monday because when he went to college, he had some debt, so did i. but the fact is tuition costs were a lot lower than because state governments provided a much greater portion of financial assistance to four-year universities, two-year universities, community colleges, etc. over the last few years, state governments have/assistance to tohave slashed assistance colleges, so the notion of making was affordable to people is what is driving costs up at colleges -- in fact, if you look at the row financing, and i serve at the legislature years ago, they have been using higher ed accounts as an atm machine to cut subsidies, and that has been driving be tuition increases, particularly in the public sector, which is still the workhorse of higher education in

this country. host: take a look at these charts that mother jones put together. these are the major expenses. the average price a year of college from 1982 2010 at a four-year college, and take a look at where it is for a two-year college. below that is a chart that shows the rising cost of getting ahead . this is the price of attending fast outpacing inflation. here is the blue line, the price of one euro for your college, and the consumer price index. stella says colleges are making huge profits, administration salaries getting huge for the use of endowment funds as the lone backers, not us. every again, not institution has an endowment. the university of connecticut does not have much of an endowment. most public universities -- which is again the bulk of students go to. i have no problem with creating incentives for state government, sort of maintenance of effort requirements for state

legislators and governors to step it up and get us back to where that chart showed we were when college was much more affordable. and again, i think the president new ideas forome a higher education reauthorization act, which is that is still pending right now to create more incentives for college. you can participate in titles for programs. unacceptable. colleges and universities do not like that. the fact is we take that to be part of the solution. some of the callers comments, but the fact of the matter is, there are multiple reasons why tuition has gone up from those days and we have got to work on state governments, college universities, and we also have to set up programs that also are somewhat comparable to the way they were

back in the 70's and 80's. >> what mother jones magazine puts together based off of data from the federal reserve bank of new york. this is the number of student borrowers. it has increased by 66% between 2005 and 2012. the average student loan balance, increasing by 49% in go same time spent here ahead, kerry. >> thank you for taking my call, i appreciate it. why doesn't the government restrict these loans to the schools that are not accredited? i see schools advertised on tv. nine months, a year, two years, and then you go out and get a job that only pays nine dollars an hour. on top of that, the classes they take, the credits cannot be transferred to where you went for brian university.

>> the amount of investment the federal tax taker -- payer makes a year is about $100 million. the caller is absolutely right, it is not too much to ask that schools producing degrees that are basically almost worthless account --een made accountable. they have come out with regulations to set up gainful employment standards that would have done exactly that. the for-profit colleges, which is the sector that does the late-night ads the caller was talking about suit. in federal -- a federal district court judge suspended the limitation of those rules. if you look at that sector the

caller was talking about, they acked up and -- disproportionate share of loans and pell grants and their performance, there are some that do ok but some are quite wretched. onhave got to focus institutions in terms of also being part of the solution. the caller is correct. >> we will go to illinois. hello. you are on the air. >> my question is, i do not completely understand -- i just do not completely understand how the government can let the people of the united states down like this. it seems to be more and more that the united dates is becoming a corporate entity, as something for the people. example ofs a good

this, when it comes to educating .he people i fear for my grandchildren that they will not have a better life and i did hear that is two generations. i know my daughter will not. >> we will take your point very >> again, i inc. your inside he is something shared across the country. why it is successful in blocking the increase their the power of the issue cuts across , and iines and regions think again, the president being on the road again today is very important because i think the public gets this, when you are looking at your kids or grandkids, and you are looking at public institutions like u conn, now $26,000 a year, it is like buying a house, sending a

child or grandchild to college. we have got to do a better job in terms of identifying what the value is of the programs you were signing up for when they make a life decision, and we have also got to make sure that well understood and we have got to start changing the incentives to bring down the cost. iss legislation introduced about trying to give people those tools so they can have success for granted. -- grandkids. >> supporters of that legislation will be holding a press conference is afternoon after the vote to proceed on this legislation. it will be a vote to proceed to debate, and then 60 votes after that. they're holding a news conference. go to c-span.org if you are interested in watching that. congressman, democrat of connecticut, thank you.

coming up next, we will return back talking about eric cantor's defeat last night in the seventh congressional district of virginia. we will get your thoughts on that coming up next. first am a news update from c-span radio. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] minority leader nancy pelosi arrived at the capital, she responded about eric cantor, saying, "he was too close to wall street and not main street and that is what we have been adding all along. " we will have more about that coming up next weird officials say a top commander of an extremist group that has been on the u.s. list of most wanted terrorists has been captured near the international airport. is one of the highest-ranking terrorist suspects to be captured in that country for years. he was captured once before in

2004 but escaped in 2007. the u.s. state department says he wants a college he arranged a transfer to finance bombings and other attacks in the philippines. back on capitol hill, chuck hagel faces lawmakers this morning to testify about the prisoner swap with the taliban. the deal is being investigated that secured be and of army sergeant bowe bergdahl's captivity. you can hear live coverage of the hearing in an hour or watch it on c-span three. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> one of the things people do not always recognize is during the worthy and 12, it was fought from 1812 until early 1815. about america

against --ing independence against the british. this flag is the object for which francis scott key penned the words which became our national anthem. the image in 1995 that the flag was made to look old -- whole and restored. there was a whole section reconstructed. there was a deliberate decision not to do that again. we wanted the flag to become a metaphor for the country. it is tattered man -- and torn but still survived. we are not trying to make it look ready. we are trying to make it look like it has endured history and celebrates history. this year marks the 200th

anniversary of word mchenry during the war of 1812. learn more about the flag francis scott key wrote about while we tour the smithsonian's star-spangled banner exhibit sunday night at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern, part of american history tv this weekend on c-span3. >> "washington journal" continues. >> we are back here this morning to get your thoughts on the defeat of eric cantor, the number two in the house, defeated in the gop primary in the seventh congressional district of virginia last night. the phone lines -- also, send us a tweet. you can join the conversation on this but that tom last he spent /c-span.ook.com

times this new york morning. the opponent their winning the 55.5% of theith vote, 36,110 votes. eric cantor, 28,898 votes. me on the phone, a national political reporter with the washington post. what have you learned since waking up this morning? .> greeting from the capital there is a lot of talk right now that the majority leader cantor may need to step down, that he will be under pressure to relink -- relinquish that post ahead of the midterms and let the party tried to recover. >> why would he have to relinquish his leadership post? >> there will be so many moving that in the house gop having a defeated majority leader ahead of the midterms put

the gop into a week and vision, and there will be a movement afoot to get the models in their to get the leadership russians settled. cantor himself knows his own leadership to be festering. have as much political capital as majority leader should he can he want. resigning from congress, and if not that, stepping down from his post. for whatever reason, you can ask some kind of conservative result -- revolt in the house. >> who do you think goes into the number two slot? x for the moment, there is only an open number two slot. i am era not only will -- will there be competition for the majority leader host, maybe in texas, a conservative they were, maybe another conservative avery. his front runner, currently the third ranking of looking, the with from california almond he is a method to move up. conservatives,

encouraged by david's lynn in virginia ammann and king about challenging the are boehner am a that his only to ship right now is not in peril, but could be challenged. >> you're talking 2015 now you're the next round are or could it happen this this is it that happened year or right now. is cantor chooses to step down, you can open everything up. i see the leadership trying to move on and trying to stay united. but we will see what happens here i have to run. i am about running the are boehner. and there you go. live on capitol hill. this year or righthe had to jump offe saw this week are there in the hallway. hopefully him after he talked speaker and we can get him back here and he can tell us what he learned there. a lot of folks are back on capitol hill this money, trying to get the story about what happened in the seventh congressional district in virginia. the hill newspaper is room running this morning that eric cantor was is to be giving

a speech this morning. he canceled that speech and instead, a democrat of delaware will be giving that the area a lot of eyes on capitol hill this one. we want to go outside of watch and to get your rocks on the defeat of eric cantor, the number two in the house, the maryland,eader, republican caller, ted, good morning to you. west good morning or it is very and spending in the race really underscores something i do not understand. that is, what does campaign money buy? tv commercials are a joke. if elijah cummings came to my door and offered me a check or $1 million to vote for him, i was in the door in his face. all i can the is campaign money goes to name recognition are the people who do not have means and desires to be in warm on what the issues are and candidates positions and while that would

explain a lot of what we're seeing in washington am i i'm that very worries him. >> the victory last night, dave rat, was quoted as a, money does not vote. evil vote. >> i agree. on campaignold this finance, i do not see where it goes. it is like sending money to afghanistan. as on the money issue -- >> on the money issue, eric cantor raise five eight 4 million percent, apparently 5 million, but we heard earlier from one capital reporter that it is unlikely he spent $5 million on his own race here he travels around the entry on raising his colleagues and often donates to their reelection fund here then whohave his opponent, dave, raised 206000 and spent a little over 122,000. is from open secrets.org if you're interested

. democratic caller. ? . thank you for taking my call. i ship you unity to is a couple f thoughts here. i have constantly heard through the media many times, just like the previous congressman said, and oilers are in need of work both the biggest thing is the low skill in the high skill. >> is this referring to -- > immigration, the defeat. stem is the science, technology, engineering, math, those graduate. those professionals are the people that the employers, mark zuckerberg putting all this money into the immigration

reform campaign, all of the silicon valley, they want more workers overseas. we do not have the evil. her souli have spirits. my son is a graduate of an ivy league. he graduated in the them you'll. theorks in the field employer. it is relevant to does recently from the ivying, league and the schools you're on the east coast ammann and my son, interviews some of the applicants. he is absolutely astonished that so many for entry-level positions, people are coming in with phd's and master's degrees and get overwhelmed with resumes for

and theyel decisions are lying to us, telling us there are no applicants, and that we need people from overseas. >> we will leave it there and move on to stewart in georgia, democratic caller, the diagram that correctly? good morning. in virginia. >> i am in the seventh district request go ahead. class i support have a loss for two reasons. one is immigration. no doubt about that. down here, we want immigration reform. we have seen it or under reagan. a lot of talk. we want it is, secure the borders first. they are not your peer the prime examples of the children across the borders now there is short of murders -- now.

you're the borders first or then we can deal with all the tear jerk stories i hear. representatives giving speeches on the floor and we will deal with that. secure the border force. >> we got your point. you are calling on independent line. are you a registered independent? >> i am not registered. i'm independent and i voted both ways. this was an open primary. there might be a political strategy there, i do not know. but this gentleman that did win, i think that he is a good candidate. >> did you get out and vote? you voted for him? ok. all right. we will go to frank in california -- craig in california, a republican caller. good morning. >> yes.

its emphasis go, the same light. nancy pelosi. >> like you say that? what did he does have in common? >> they're both all talk and no action. nancy pelosi out here him all she does is talk. what she says, she is never a am pledged here at what she says, she has never done. all she does .s hide money senator cantor does the same and. every time i go listening -- to nancy pelosi speaking out here in the commonwealth, you're a bunch of nonsense. i see her shopping with her the grid service agents. >> ok. from open secrets.org, the top five contributors to eric cycle.s election

blackstone group tops the list homophone by capital management. the goldman sachs company, topping the list of the top five contributors to eric cantor's election and pain. also i'm at five industries that congressmanoutgoing from the seventh district. securities investment is the number one industry. real estate is number two. retired companies and insurance companies, lawyers and law firms tom are the top five industries election -- to the contribute to the election representative eric cantor. number two in the house, the majority leader, the first time in history, losing his primary bid here what are your thoughts? in virginia, democratic caller. good morning. >> if you remember here a few bids ago tom a he lost his

in the ninth district of virginia. when you stop listening to your constituents tom a you're going to lose. republican or democrat. i wanted to make a comment on the college that i have an design.e degree in i want to become a mechanical engineer. of these colleges, all of these classes added in but have nothing to do with degree programs, like the first two i have to take when i go back to get my bachelors, u.s. history one and two. it has nothing to do with being theseanical engineer. colleges are doing this with i think that is why, like law schools and. when you go to law school, you concentrate on that. my son just graduated.

they do not add other classes in that you need to do the job. press we will leave it there. rachel on independent color. what are your thoughts this morning? >> i think he would probably lose. once he made a statement saying, with the medicare, he was going to have a voucher row graham where they pay $6,000, they would pay up to $6,000 and the rest of it was your andonsibility to pay it, another thing, a lot of the , just likespoke out this program or investigations over with, i think a lot more people will be losing their jobs. that's all right. here is eric cantor. he addressed his orders last night after losing the primary bid. he spoke for four minutes and here is a little bit of what he >> i believe in the

country and i believe there is opportunity around the next cooler -- corner for all of us. i look forward to continuing to fight with all of the for the things we believe in for the conservative cause. those solutions of ours are the so manyo the problems people are facing today. thank you all very much. [applause] >> eric cantor last night addressing his supporters after losing his primary bid. he quickly exited the ballroom and got into a waiting utility vehicle, ignoring questions from reporters. then things became rowdy. a group of immigration activist suddenly stormed the ballroom screaming and waving a flag. --

>> so that was after the concessions beach, after. cantor after talking with reporters. we have the whole four-minute speech. it is pretty interesting. go to our website. we will hear from betty next in pennsylvania, a democratic all are. good morning to you. good morning. i would like to point out he does things. those who say money is not important politics. think of it this way. the advertising industry is a $1 billion industry in the country. there is a reason. they buy ads on tv and radio, they bombard us with us -- with them when they know most people are watching. because it works there and people go out and buy their products.

billionaires on both sides of the aisle are doing this and thing. only they're selling an idea. >> i will leave it there. robert is joining us act on the phone. he is up on capitol hill reporting on this story. billionaires on both sides of the aisle are doingi know your . you had to jump off because you saw the speaker in the hallway. what did you learn? not only the speaker, but the majority leader cantor. at the main entrance of the capital am a there are about 20 -- 20 and and -- cameras television cameras. majority leader can -- boehner came in through the senate this morning, trying to avoid the press. i was the only reporter there and i spoke to him and he was very stonefaced. looked very unhappy. no.ust kept saying no, no, when i would ask them questions about whether he would resign him whether he was dead down as majority leader on whether he wants to stay on as majority leader. i said, when will we hear from you today question -- today?

i requested an interview and he said we will talk later and he moved up there to through a dashed upstairs through a secret passage. >> wendy think he will address the cameras? >> i won't -- i am not sure. will have to today. he indicated to me he will make some sort of statement on whether a written -- written the network talk to the press today about his plans. too much happening right now. it is so confusing for a lot of members. for him to be silent today would surprising. is what do you make -- >> what do you make of him saying no? >> it was more of an irritated no, it. comments.take -- no i do not take it as he wanted to answer the questions come more like he did not want his the. a problem right now is it is a chaotic scene in the capital. surprising. is what dohe is a s

control, his message, to control his image. in theseifficult to do circumstances. >> what else is happening up there? who are you trying to talk to? >> the third ranking republican in the house is from california and is expected to run for majority leader. he lives in the capital. lives in his office. he has been meeting with all night. makewaiting for boehner to an appearance. the leadership right now is planning meetings. i do not think boehner and cantor have directly met yet. i hear they have spoken last night on the phone. we will see fear they will have to meet. this is a tumultuous time for the leadership. they need a strategy now to try any challenge. >> they have to unite together, everybody in leadership. >> that will be the goal.

they will really try hard today to not say much and give the press a lot of information here at it is -- information. it is becoming a madhouse here ot passed 9:00 a.m. it will seem at the leadership is under fire. look or boehner today to probably take the lead and give her a chance -- cantor a chance to speak out. really wants cantor to take the lead. it is his job and his loss. we will see you can for speaks. have got to let you go because you have more reporting to do. we appreciate you calling us back. so we are going outside of washington that your odds as all eyes are up on capitol hill today not only because of what happened in the rational therict with the the the -- defeat of eric cantor, but you also have several -- secretary hagel going up this morning to

testify about the release of captured sergeant vogler -- bowe bergdahl. that is happening at 10:00 a.m. and we are rick -- we are covering it as well. c-span3, tune in their. -- there. he will hear from defense. chuck hagel about the release of oberg all. in exchange, they released him gitmove up five prisoners. you will hear more about that today from those on the committee. they can look at eric cantor'district here in the post.gton the seventh district. the different counties and the makeup, you can be -- see the vote last night. a light pink is eric cantor's numbers in a different counties. in the darker red is his and the victor, david brad. -- brat. you can see which counties brat

was able to win and the number the house was able to win. that was in the washington post this morning. a little bit about the victor last night. as from expedia, which says he is an american economist, professor of economics tom and the republican candidate in the general elections for the gender aussies -- four virginia's seventh congressional district. it says he attended hope college for his ba and went on to princeton theological seminary and got his phd from american university. an economic professor there at a local college. here is a little bit of his beach last night to his orders and -- supporters. >> the people away from washington dc, back to the eighth ammann and vacuum.

i -- back to you. down the second over in the house, eric cantor. jack, a health hazard, at the same college, in the general elections. the democratic candidate. he got a phd from virginia tom inealth university. colombia maryland, independent color. what are your thoughts on the outcome? caller: i want to thank the people of virginia, number one, everybody two, forgets that cantor was the face

of the government shutdown. you can travel i-95 in the morning and the home and the evil travel -- see how many people travel from richmond to dcp or that cost us the election. that and his obstructionist views. we have to move forward and keep moving. people like eric cantor, through process,ss, stall the and do not make changes. >> ok. jim, what are your thoughts? i am not living in virginia but there is an awful lot of anger even among very conservative republicans.

i am a republican and thought he did a decent job. anger,s an awful lot of even among very conservative people like myself, just about people -- it is unfortunate in. cantor's case -- in eric cantor's put dad case. he probably lost contact with very conservative groups that maybe he should not have done. a quote from peter king in the paper. it says "i do not know where we go as a party. -- is from peter king, a republican york. ne new

caller: i think ted cruz has got a right to speak his piece. i think we have to understand there is a lot of frustration among republicans. i consider myself a very rude -- conservative republican but i do support the republican national committee. it takes a lot of frustration out here among the republican party.

just like they a minority leader of the house. host: all right. here is reaction on twitter from members of congress last night. the housean of foreign affairs committee tweeted out, my good friend, eric cantor, has been by my side as we work on many issues. proud to serve with him. we have a democrat from virginia saying -- then chuck schumer, a democrat from new york and number three in senate leadership from democrats over there who control the chamber -- you also have got this tweet

this morning from a democrat from california -- and outgoing congressman, a republican from texas, lost his primary bid to unseat senator john cornyn in that republican primary, tweeted out -- we see 5000 from eric cantor's leadership act fund for his bid. steve from texas. wayne in west jefferson carolina --, north carolina. >> the american people will figure it out on immigration reform to come out with a bill and call it immigration reform when it is not. they have figured it out and are opposed to it. two that's. -- steps.

if you have a president and i am a democrat who will not enforce the law, he will not enforce the law and the border. he is not right now. blade of immigrants coming across as we speak here i am very frustrated because i amke many democrats, tired of lobbyists and the political elite tell me what i have to do. the american people are tired of it. democrats voted for this guy who won last night. it is not just republicans and it is not weirdo wackos or anything like that. washingtond of controlling us. >> independent color.

-- caller. glad c-span is available to american people. we need to have impact on the lyrical level. republicans need a wake-up call and this is the best one i've ever seen. it is time for republicans. they want to start moving around their seats. it is the whole congress. democrats and republicans that are sitting on their cans, and they think $200,000 a year is good pocket change, but it is time for them to start doing their jobs. class what is happening in capitol hill already this warning, we heard from robert costs earlier that there are

reporters staking out the hallways there waiting to get a glimpse of. cantor or somebody else in leadership. here is a photograph tweeted out on instagram. that young woman in the picture is cantor's spoke person -- spokesperson. coming into the senate doors to try to avoid the cameras up there. robert costa asking many direct .uestions more to come from leadership today. we will go to jeff in saint deiters berg, florida. republican caller. hello. >> good morning. i believe the republican party is frustrating a lot of its base . they are not supporting any candidates other than the ones that support their view at the time, leaving the door open for

not enoughople, people to participate. a lot of frustrated republicans out there like myself may be a little bit middle of the road. will not eventhey listen to me or even give .andidates any support >> here is a chart for you this morning. these are the members of congress deseeded. in 2014 twohere house republicans defeated. defeated in the primary. look at 2012, a familiar name there. defeated in the primary there against richard murdoch, murdoch not winning the general we will goere area

connecticut -- election. we will go to felix in connecticut. good morning. i just want to make -- hello? my opinion good morning. i just want to is, how come we e spending so much time and immigration [indiscernible] you are cutting out. maybe you can call back on a better line. the senior adviser for the obama administration tweeted this out, that cantor's is problem was not his position on immigration reform. it was his lack of a position. --

the headline that graham buries six rivals and his gop primaries there. there is a picture there of the incumbent editor from south carolina. caller: on the selection, my opinion was it was all about the immigration. i go way back to the 1930's to our depression. i competed with migrant workers .n the field for jobs time people start to realize that, from the standpoint of eagle coming over, around, under, or through our borders, there is no way to close our borders to people. the only way we can solve our immigration the problem is internally. , becauseut time

otherwise, we will argue about closing the borders. host: independent caller. caller: good morning. i will make my statement brief. i think it is very refreshing that our democracy is finally working the way it is meant to, the people's voice was heard, and that the conglomerates were not able to buy an election. that ourreshing to see voices are being heard. that is all i have to say. >> we will keep getting your thoughts there 20 minutes left before the end of today's "washington journal." we want you to weigh in the defeat of eric cantor. this is the local newspaper in lynchburg, virginia.

-- , radio talkshow host conservative, who went into the seventh congressional district on behalf -- tweeted this out -- he is the victor from last night's gop primary. earlier, this was tweeted out from one of her sources -- then, the hill newspaper has this this morning, that cantor had canceled his national association manufacturers each. he was slated to give that today. instead, will he will hear from a democrat from delaware. in new york, democratic caller. caller: hello. listen, i have a few thoughts

and just there with me if i go off the charts a little bit. i think what happened with eric cantor is part of a larger problem and that would be that people that are empowered to not listen to the people who are not in power. called in andlers said, about the problem with eric and tort, talking about how representatives do not listen to their constituents, i agree. i am registered democrat but i am kind of an independent. you have to go with a party in order to vote in the primaries. i try to get in contact with representative king on a few occasions. he never answers e-mails, he never answers phone calls. when you do try to call or you get to call, you have to leave your name, e-mail address, etc.. what you think on a particular issue or what you do not,

sometimes you do not want to give information. sometimes you want to -- on what is going on. --c cantor's loss is showing it does not matter what party you are in and that is my viewpoint. in louisiana, independent caller. good morning. is,er: what i do not get when i came back from katrina, there were about 11 million illegals. but it never goes up. has got to be at least 22 with them so open about a border nowadays. i cannot get any work anymore or there are so many here. what upsets everybody. >> from the new york times reporting on this story. we want to show you a couple of things. says he had little help from national groups and instead relied mostly on state and local

activist for the wind area a couple of paragraphs over homage said many voters also person -- received eric cantor as ignoring concerns. he kept a home in richmond and said his children to school and spent much of his time in recent years traveling across the country to raise money and campaigned for a the lastn candidate. paragraph says a dinner party with representative nancy pelosi in california, the democratic leader turned into a celebration last eight. a quote, i never thought i would see the day eric cantor would be from ahis i married congresswoman of new york, the senior demo that on the house rules committee. ms. policies that i go cannot even believe it. this is at a private party at the leader pelosi's department. ray in alabama, a republican caller. hello.

class hello. hello.er: i am a wounded veteran. i am sorry i cannot speak louder. but i agree with that. got congress here, i work hard on her campaign. not return the call. i have not talked to her -- i called her 14 times and cannot get an answer there they say you do not have time area the same as local people. local representatives. from alabama, you do not have time to talk to his people. for a call.ve time he will not take a call there it i am that up with it here it is all right. morning,er orting this

about whether or not mr. cantor could still be on the ballot in the general election. they report that gop cantor loses in the primary. results could fuel the rise of , ancommittee chairman influential leader among the most conservative house republicans already this year. mr. cantor had drawn -- requesting a deal on flood insurance. his loss tuesday greatly changes any chance you might do the same on his eyring charter for the import bank, which he wants to eliminate. on whether or not he will appear on the november ballot in the general election, he set -- it says he cannot run as a third-party candidate. virginia law forbids candidates who lose primary elections from appearing on the ballot.

it was not clear if he would have a writing camp name as a senator did after losing a 2010 primary did. we will go to james in indiana, a democratic caller. good morning. qwest good morning. good morning. it was a perfect example of what was wrong with our country, wall street, big oil, military defense contractors run. ofis a perfect example buying a government. it has got to stop. it is supposed to be of the people and by the people. party,rchased the tea which is just a wing, basically, of the top one percent. anti-obama care one percent. give me your tired, your poor, and you're hungry, but only anglo-saxon.

racial issues, the top one percent are bleeding the theiran people dry for functioning issues, gasoline or health insurance or prescription .eds to heat your home they are raking in the dough, and they are paying for the political folks that will basically just be, you know, in aeir pockets there it class little color for you, the voters in virginia were turning out. of thes section they report the number one gop leader and the number three gop leader in the house reacted remarkably different to the stunning defeat of. cantor. john boehner stuck to his usual routine. hanging out at an italian restaurant you like in part because they let him both in a private room.

--se majority whip frantically huddled deep into the night. were they plotting his next move? no one was talking. also talking about what was at theng in virginia home of brent bozell. the washington post is reporting a large group of right wing leaders dined at his house there chairman of "for america, a group that targeted cantor throughout the primary, eating pasta and toasting the sudden development were members of sudden growth, tea party patriots, and the part that family research council. they would like to see in leadership for that spot for number two, to challenge speaker john boehner there.

reporting that cantor's campaign this is aot of stake. website that breaks down certain aspects of politics and policy. they said his open secrets money revealed he spent $168,000 on steakhouses. his opponent only spent 200,000. that will give you an idea of the spending. we will go to wane in texas, independent caller. good morning. because i usedd to be a republican. i am 68 years old and i got hired of not being able to get in touch with a republican area i told the republican committee the other day that you will not win these elections. on mr. cantor's position, the republican party has left the immigration issue completely alone and that has allowed the to open the gates,

with all of these children, and we now have no control over the immigration law. i just told them, you're not getting my money and not getting my vote anymore. >> all right. in virginia, a republican caller. good morning. good morning. i was shocked, like i am sure everyone else was, that mr. cantor was defeated last night i am stayingver, out of that precinct's business. they must certainly know what they believe is the right person to fulfill that the for them, to represent them. live in northern virginia and

i would love to have a republican get in here. i cannot seem to get by the people that live in and and alexandria. >> all right. the front page, courtesy of the museum -- they both are professors at that college. we will go to nancy in miami florida am independent caller. caller: hello. good morning. i come into this country, i work hard and pay my taxes. i respect this country. i him -- i am hispanic. later on, --

[indiscernible] said,ent obama [indiscernible] this country loved kids. host: ok. choline in new jersey, republican caller. you're on the air. one last time. let me move onto charles in new hampshire, independent caller. charles, good morning. caller: good morning. as anin, described earthquake, apocalyptic, and i agree with that. a seasoned politician

-- eric cantor was a very smart and intelligent politician. it seems as though the tea a sen -- eric cantor party is attracted to extreme people and it is hurting the republican party. i believe they are becoming an endangered species. in spite of the wind, it does republicans toor congress was left for strikingly similar reasons area -- reason. toxicity andeal republicans are their own worst teaies when they alleged party candidate. thank you very much. right, independent caller, hello. qwest good morning. to immigration, if

that was the primary reason eric cantor lost his election, i would like to say, i have set in the hills from southern california to washington. have an looking out after our farmers out west for many generations, for 70 years. we made sure that fruit and produce has made it to the east coast, new york, philadelphia, and boston. the price of these things is simply because of the cost of the people who work in these eels. vegetablesown the and produce that goes to the east coast. the ones that keep strawberries from spoiling on the way. people deserve the did the and respect of becoming citizens of this country.

they earned the right. qwest i will jump in at that way . we want to let our viewers know on he spent three, we are covering the house armed services committee that will momentarily the hearing from the defense secretary, chuck hagel, slated to testify there before the members of the house armed or mrs. committee about the release of bowe bergdahl and the details of that, as much as the can tell andthey say publicly. they will hear from the defense secretary and why he supported the best that decision and others inside the pentagon. you can see the rooms filling up you can expect the defense secretary will come out shortly and take his seat there. on c-span radio if you're interested. the house is about to come in. let me get your thoughts, republican caller. go ahead.

qwest i think it is interesting, the rhetoric being used on the democrat side with your collars and nancy pelosi, that this is somehow a negative for republicans am a when really, this is a huge victory or republicans tired of not being heard. the woman who called in who was hispanic and said she did everything, the problem is these people tend to go to countries or issues corruption negative to the country. >> i have to leave it there. my apologies very we want to bring you the live gavel-to-gavel coverage here on c-span. -- 2014. i hereby appoint the honorable jason t. smith to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip but in to five minutes, no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. black, for five minutes. mrs. black: thank you, mr. speaker. more than one million americans who signed up for health care on the federal obamacare exchange may be receiving an incorrect taxpayer subsidy for their plans due to the fact that the obama administration pushed this law through before the systems were in place to accurately confirm eligibility. this isn't mere incompetence on

the part of the white house. no. this is a direct result of the administration's insistence on moving forward with their rbitrary october 1, 2013, open enrollment date, regardless of the consequences. consider the problem this presents as there is currently no real-time system in place to ensure only those who qualify for subsidies receive them. this means that hardworking american taxpayers may be left on the hook for potentially billions of dollars in fraudulent subsidy payments. furthermore, it means that someone who simply fills out their obamacare enrollment application incorrectly could be hounded for years by the internal revenue service for back taxes owed on improper payments. this problem was entirely preventable. that's why in the wake of the

clandestine holidays rules change that delayed income verification provisions in obamacare last summer, i introduced legislation that would have prevented any obamacare subsidies from being doled out into a system that's in place to make sure that only, only those who were determined eligible would receive them. the house acted on this legislation, passing it in a bipartisan vote last september to help protect the american taxpayers from rampant fraud and abuse. unfortunately, instead of giving my bill consideration that it deserved, the senate stripped the verification provision contained in the bill and replaced it with language requiring a mere report to congress by health and human services kathleen sebelius at the end of last year. certifying that there is a system in place to verify incomes before subsidies are paid out. predictably, this weekend

income -- this income verification has failed, and as we now learn from news reports that over a million americans are potentially receiving an amount in error. that's why i have now introduced h.r. 4805, the no subsidies without verification act of 2014. the tax credits and cost sharing assistance for obamacare premiums administered by h.h.s. is estimated to amount to a staggering $10 billion per month, making this one of the largest entitlement programs in the nation. my bill would simply require an income verification system to put into place before any additional taxpayer subsidies are given out. mr. speaker, obamacare has become such a boondoggle that the nonpartisan congressional budget office can't even score it any more. my commonsense legislation would slow the bleeding of this

law is having on american taxpayers and i look forward to working with my colleagues to move it forward. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. some things do not change after a primary, even a primary result that no one, including the winning candidate, had predicted. the thing that does not change with political wins in washington is the calendar. there are only 10 legislative days before the july fourth recess. another thing that has not changed, the republican party and the republican leadership has a difficult choice. they can choose to address the immigration issue head on and get it resolved and give the republican nominee in 2016 a fighting chance in his or her run for the white house or they can go back to the bunkers, sharpen their anti-obama knives

and never get to the white house in the next generation, possibly two. as i have said on the floor before, there is no serious immigration reform action headed toward a floor vote in the house by july fourth, we will not see action at all. it will be left up to the president to rescue the country from the worst aspects of our dysfunctional immigration system. on the democratic side, we , ered legislative solutions but in the absence of anything resembling leadership from the legislature, the president will not just sit back and watch a bad situation get worse. he will, in accordance with existing law, protect all immigrants he can. i believe he can protect literally millions of them through executive action. immigration reform is not dead. it will just move to the white house for action if none comes from this house. so with 10 days left before july fourth, where do we stand?

the majority leader released his legislative schedule for the month of june. reforming our immigration system is nowhere to be found. immigration is the single most important issue to address for the republican party's ability to be competitive at the national level after this fall. and it's nowhere on the schedule before this fall. so what lessons have we learned? half measures to legalize some immigrants here and allow legal immigration for some industries there doesn't seem to have much plital attraction for conservative -- political attraction for conservative voters in the south. amnesty at the last minute doesn't seem to have much traction for southern voters in conservative districts. articulating, however, a firm argument for why deporting 11 million or 12 million people is not a realistic proposition, defending your position that legal immigration is prmble to illegal immigration -- preferable to illegal immigration, and making clear that any way of actual border

security is legal immigration and addressing the legal status for immigrants already working and living here, that seems to work pretty well for southern conservative voters. that's what the gentleman from south carolina, mr. grimm, would tell us, or the gentlelady from north carolina, or every poll that's been taken in recent memory. and we know that in every part of the country outside the most conservative districts, mainly in the south, supporting the end of illegal immigration in a road and -- broad legalization is not only the policy that works, it's the only policy that's viable politically. so every pundit on tv last night said it was time to man the barricades. they said immigration reform was a republican stamp and a republican congress is dead because the american people want to be protected from the threatening world outside and republicans wants to be protected from their threatening voters. but it's still up to the republican leadership how they

plan to proceed. not a single republican who opposes immigration reform needs to vote for it. not one. and we will still have a majority of the house voting to do what a majority of americans want them to do. that's is address our broken immigration system. next week in judiciary, we will have a hearing on the crisis of unoccupying minors fleeing central america, and we will be pointing fingers at everyone but ourselves and not, i would note, using the few remaining legislative days available to craft a sensible border and immigration strategy, as our colleagues did in the senate almost a full year ago. let us not accept the latest excuse for inaction on immigration, especially from those who want to take no action under any -- under any condition. this nation, built by and sustained by 400 years of immigration, needs a coherent system and we need politicians brave enough to craft one. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. thank you, mr. speaker. you know, mr. speaker, i rise today to commemorate flag day, which will be celebrated on saturday, june 14. this day is important to all americans as june 14, 1777 is the date the continental congress adopted a resolution officially designating a flag of the united states. the same date in 1775 is also recognized as the birthday of our army. those 13 broad stripes and 50 bright stars are an important symbol of america that's recognized across the globe and quite frankly even on the moon. our flag has many meanings. our flag is raised by our athletes during the olympics. our flag is flown with pride and honor during ceremonies.

our flag is worn on the right arm of every soldier and our flag is draped over the could haveins of those who made the ultimate -- covens of those who made the ultimate -- coffins of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. this june 14 i encourage all to remember why we fly our flag and to use the opportunity to remember the army's birthday and the many soldiers who have defended the flag and what it has represented for the past 239 years. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. umenauer: thank you, speaker. yesterday was the 74th school shooting incident since the horrific day in sandy hook, december, 2012, where 26 people, including 20 children, were slaughtered. only this time it was my

district. the second largest in the state of oregon was the scene of a tragic murder of emilio hoffman, a junior varsity soccer player, a volunteer soccer coach. he was gunned down, a teacher wounded and a shooter, apparently an ex-student, dead. i was struck by just a few days arlier when the onion, the newspaper, had their response to the recent spayed of shootings that's shaken us all. the onion headline read, no way to prevent this, says only nation where this regularly happens. the article read that in the days following a violent rampage in southern california in which a lone attacker killed seven individuals, including himself, and seriously injured over a dozen others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly

concluded there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place. it was a terrible tragedy, but some of these things just happen and there's anyone can do to stop them, said north carolina resident samuel wiper, echoing sentiments expressed by tens of millions of individuals who reside in a nation where over half the world's deadliest mass killings have occurred in the last 50 years, whose citizens are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed countries. it's a shame but what can we do? there really isn't anything that's going to keep this guy from snapping and killing a lot of people, if that's what he really wanted. at press time, residents of the only economically advanced nation in the world where roughly two mass shootings have occurred every month for the past five years were referring to themselves and their situation as hopeless. well, the fact is we can do something about gun violence.

it's a public health crisis and with any other disease our health product that produced such widespread death and destruction, we would mobilize. first, we need to take some simple commonsense steps like universal background gun checks. we have them in my state of oregon. obviously it doesn't keep every senseless act of gun violence from happening, but it's often proven effective to keep weapons out of the hands of the mentally unstable and criminal elements. universal background checks are supported by an overwhelming majority of americans, over 90%, by some estimates, and a strong majority, over 2/3 of gun owners want to make sure there are no loopholes in the background check laws. recent events have also demonstrated what you'll find out by visiting any jail, emergency room or simply walking the streets of our communities, too many americans are facing a mental health crisis. i'm looking forward to working with representative tim murphy

on his h.r. 3717, helping find families in crisis act. we've been discussing ways to advance some of the provisions in this congress. recently my friend and colleague from tucson, congressman ron barber, himself a victim of gun violence, which occurred in the tragic murders in tucson, which included the serious wounding of our former colleague, gabby giffords, has also introduced legislation. i'm looking forward to being able to work with both congressman murphy and congressman berber so this congress produces legislation to strengthen the opportunities to help people who are mentally ill. we ought not to pretend there is nothing we can do about these situations. look what happened with automobile safety? dramatically improved within a generation. once we stopped accepting the carnage on our roadways. auto deaths have been cut in

half. serious injuries reduced. not with any single magic solution, but by patient, hard work involving step by step efforts to improve design and construction of automobiles. the education of drivers. and the enforcement of our laws. education, engineering, and enforcement can likewise make a big difference in reducing the epidemic of gun violence in america. and we certainly can do a better job of helping individuals and families in mental health crisis. et's not make a parody in "the onion" be the reality of this congress. let's act. tens of thousands of victims, past and future, including young amealo hoffman, demand our best efforts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. petri, for five minutes. mr. speaker, members

of congress rely a great deal on our staff for policy advice, research, interacting with constituents, and all the other tasks that allow us to serve our districts. today i would like to take a moment to recognize one member of my staff who has been the backbone of my office for over 35 years. linda started in my office on june 7, 1979. less than two months after i was elected. last week marked her 35th anniversary in our office. before that linda worked with senator edward brook from massachusetts, all told linda has been a congressional staffer for 42 years. always patient, always thoughtful, always thorough linda is what every member wants in a staffer. she has helped countless sixth district residents resolve issues with federal agencies.

hundreds of young people will remember linda for her work coordinating their internship it my office or working with them overseeing my service academy commission. birthdays are always remembered and celebrated thanks to her, and fellow staff rely on her years ever wisdom and experience for learning -- of wisdom and experience for learning the ropes and succeeding in their jobs. she's our office historian and somehow locates any specific piece of paper when needed from the stack of papers on her desk. we see staffers come and go, but it's rare to have one as dedicated as linda and one who has served the congress for over 40 years. thank you, linda, for your service to the 6th district of wisconsin over these many years. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. kosta -- costa, for five minutes. mr. costa: thank you, mr. speaker. it is with great pride i recognize audra mcdonald, an

award winning actress and singer from my hometown, fresno, california. audra who i have the pleasure of knowing personally made history on sunday when you were watching the tony awards when she received her sixth, sixth tony award. this win makes her the most statue laidened tone a ward winner in our nation's history. her most recent award, as many of you know, was for her billie e portrayal of holliday in lady emerson's bar and grill. she began her career with my friend, dan, and the good company players while attending roosevelt high school. she then went on to graduate from julliard school of new york in 1993. audra has seen great success on broadway, television, and opera. in addition to having won three tony awards at the age of 28, she's also received numerous grammy awards, drama desk awards, and critic circle

awards. there's almost nothing she wasn't performed in her field with the best. she also has been able to display her talents at the white house and the greatest stages in the world. she's not only an exceptional actress, but also a wonderful giving person. she actively gives back to her communities and seeks to improve the lives of those around her, including her family. earlier this year she held a benefit concert for hands in the community, and is a supporter of marriage equality. she also sits on the advisory committee for the broadway impact. most importantly, she's always given credit to where credit is due. beginning with her parents, respected educators in fresno, who motivated and taught students as they taught audra. she's a source of pride and inspiration in our san joaquin valley and hometown of fresno.

as well as around the world. and i think it's important that we take special note of the talented people throughout our ountry who provide joy and the experience of the arts as this very, very fine individual has done. a star in her own right. audra mcdonald, hometown, fresno, california. i give the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. woodall, for five minutes. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the time. i've got the federal reserve on my mind this morning. you can't really get through the federal reserve as you know, in five minutes, mr. speaker, but i wanted to start down the road today because i saw a headline, bloomberg reported, to say that what had been intended to be the beginning of an unwinding of our federal reserve balance sheet wasn't going to occur in a

timely fashion that had been intended. this was news to me based on what we have seen in the budget committee. i have with me this morning, mr. speaker, the federal reserve act authorization. folks often wonder where the federal reserve comes from. the truth is it comes from the federal reserve act. i point to section 2-a, monetary policy objectives. the board of governors of federal serve in the open market committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit agree gates commensurate with the economy's long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. i know there's some high school economic students out there who are thinking, wait a minute, can you really promote stable prices, maximum employment, and long-term interest rates with the same set of policies? i share that high school economics concern about whether or not those three goals can be pursued collectively, but this

is the mandate the federal reserve has, and this is why the federal reserve is involved in what they are involved in. mr. speaker, what i have here is the federal reserve balance sheet. it goes back to 2007, back when the federal reserve balance sheet was relatively stable. by stable i mean it was at about $800 billion. $800 billion, the balance sheet of the federal reserve. i want you to watch on the chart as we go out through these stable times. right up until the balance sheet triples in 2008. when we are trying to promote economic stability, the tripling of any government balance sheet that should be of concern, federal reserve balance sheet triples in 2008. i hold in my hand, mr. speaker, a hearing from my very first month on the budget committee, that first month occurred three years ago. it was 2011, and chairman paul ryan was questioning ben bernanke, then the federal reserve chairman. and chairman ryan said i want to

talk to you about qe-2, quantitative easing two, and what it is doing to the american economy. chairman bernanke's response was this, mr. speaker. he said what we are doing here is a temporary measure which will be reversed so that at the end of this process the money supply will be normalized, the amount of the fed's balanced sheet will be normalized, and there will be no permanent increase either in money outstanding or in the fed's balance sheet or in inflation. february, 2011. i point to february, 2011, on my chart here, mr. speaker, where the federal reserve chairman said that the balance sheet would begin to normalize, and what i want you to observe in the intervening months between february, 2011, when normalization was discussed and projected, we have actually seen the balance sheet increase almost 100%. today we are met with the news that a return to a normalized

balance sheet may be delayed even further. mr. speaker, these are decisions on which no member of this chamber votes. these are decisions on which no member of america's board of directors, being the american voters, have a voice. and this is a decision that will either rescue or destroy the economic future of this country. it needs to be discussed more often, mr. speaker. i intend to bring these issues to the floor on a regular basis. no harm will come from shining the bright light of transparency on these federal reserve decisions. no harm will come by incorporating 330 million americans into this debate about america's economic security. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg, for five minutes. mr. walberg: thank you, mr. speaker.

we live in a country that is truly blessed with an abundant array of energy resources. yet despite major advances in technology in recent years that are allowing us to access even more of these energy resources, our country is sadly failing to take advantage of these opportunities, and it is imposing higher costs on all americans. my constituents and people across the country continue to struggle to keep up with high energy prices. with an average price of nearly $4 for a gallon of gas in michigan, middle class families in my district can't understand why the federal government can't get serious about developing an all-of-the-above energy policy. for the past few years house republicans have been pursuing an all-of-the-above energy strategy. we understand that developing

our restoreses at home won't only lower energy costs, but it will grow good-paying american jobs and ease the squeeze on the middle class. the house has taken action to immediately ease that pain. in february, we passed h.r. 3826, the electricity security and affordability act, to put a check on the president and e.p.a.'s misuse of the clean air act in pursuit of cap and trade. then in march, in march we passed h.r. 2824, the preventing government waste and protecting goal mining -- coal mining jobs in america act, which would protect coal 3450eu7bing from -- coal mining from unnecessary, harmful, and useless federal regulation. we need the resources and our people need these jobs. the house will continue standing up for the american people and against the president's plans to

increase utilityity costs. this week i proudly -- utility costs. this week i proudly co-sponsored the northern american energy infrastructure act, a bill introduced by chairman upton of the energy and commerce committee, that will remove red tape that interferes with our ability to build the necessary infrastructure to move north american energy where it is needed most. i expect the house will soon consider h.r. 3301 and a number of other bills that will lessen the squeeze of high energy prices while protecting and creating new energy jobs that will grow a melty economy and form a framework for all -- healthy economy and form framework for all the middle class and a real all-of-the-above energy plan. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. murphy, for five minutes. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. last week a gunman with a history of mental illness killed one and wounded two others at a seattle university. just before memorial day a young man known by his family and therapist to be mentally ill killed six people and himself in another awful episode of mass violence. before there wasle yot roger, there was jere rhett loughner in tucson, and aaron alexis at the washington navy yard. there was gus deeds, another young man, denied extended in-patient care in his hospital before he killed himself and stabbed his father a. virginia state senator. all had untreated or undertreated serious mental illness, all spiraled out of control within a system that lacked the basic mechanisms for help, many had parents pleading for more help. how many more must die before we finally deal with our groken

mental health system? violence amongst persons with mntal illnesses is rare and far more likely to be self-directed. last year there were 40,000 suicide deaths and one million attempts. the mentally ill are more likely to be the victim of violence, robberies, beatings, and other crimes. they are also 10 times more likely to be in jail than a hospital. that's because the seriously mentally ill often encounter law enforcement after refusing medical care. what makes these painful episodes so confounding is the reality that so many tragedies involving a person with mental illness is n tirely preventable. for example, in 34 states elliott rogers' family would have been able to ask a court to order and emergency psychiatric evaluation, in california the law says they cannot. their family knows their loved one is in a health crisis and their condition is deteriorating, but as our year-long investigation performed at the energy commerce and subcommittee on oversight

andings have revealed, families are shut out from being part of the care delivery system. . for far too long we have been in serious denial of mental illness. we pretend like it doesn't exist and therefore don't have policies in place to help families and patients in mental health crisis. congress has a more comfortable in the behavioral realmness than confronting the difficulty that people with schizophrenia and bipolar are more likely to be in prison or die by suicide because of our failure to make courageous, substantive, legislative changes. we say that they are fully aware of their symptoms and welcome treatment. the fact is many don't. 40% of persons with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do not even recognize the delusions and hallucinations aren't real. they refuse treatment and don't get better.

they have a right to get better and don't they have a right to get treatment? our investigation paved the way for the helping families and mental health crisis act with nearly 90 co-sponsors, my measure fixes the number of psychiatric beds, helps patients get treatment well before their illness spirals into crisis. the bill has been endorsed by nearly a dozen publications, including "the washington post," "washington post," "pittsburgh gazette" and i hear from families across the country who are counting on changes to the mental health system. we cannot let these families down. lives are depending on this. we cannot wish this away and denial is not a treatment. i urge my colleagues to join me in this effort by co-sponsoring h.r. 3717, the helping families and mental health crisis act. please help because if there is no help there is no hope.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut, mr. larson, for five minutes. mr. larson: thank you, mr. speaker. i seek to extend my remarks and introduce extraneous materials. thank you very much. yesterday, the house of presentatives stood in we arity and silence as ce again rose to acknowledge nother death, another shooting , again, loss of life at one of our schools. the e out of respect for

victims and their families. . we have done repeatedly n average there has been a a week. in a school the american people are utraged. they no longer want congress' silence. they want to hear congress' voice. in america, the most important thing that we can do is vote. the most patriotic thing that we can do is vote.

but in this chamber, we have et to take up simple legislation on background checks. now, let me be very specific about that. pat toomey, joe manchin, two of the most conservative senators in the united states congress, t together a very narrowly constructed compromise that called for universal background checks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. this is not complicated. it is supported by 92% of the american people. n.r.a. of the

, n boehner, eric cantor kevin mccarthy, cathy mcmorris are honorable people. they know what the right thing to do is, and the right thing here, whatever side you come is, to give ssue the people in the people's house a vote. how many more times are we going to hear the pleas from crying out for a gress to take action, in body where many people pride themselves on the right to life

, why would we not rise to do everything we can to protect our schoolchildren? when i was growing up, we used to have drills because we were fearful of nuclear annihilation by russia. today our schools go through routine lockdown drills for . ar of our own citizens congress has got to act or congress, as i've said before on this floor, is duplicitous in every single tragedy that takes place. duplicitous because of its inaction. it is the morally right thing do to cast a vote however you feel on this issue, and there are strong feelings about and ut the american people

clearly the families of these ictims need to know that minimally their democracy was willing not to stand in silence , as important as that was and is but to take action and vote. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: i thank the speaker. mr. speaker, since our founding, americans have always had to fight for the liberty and freedom that we have. but throughout our history, we have had allies from other parts of the world on our side ready to help us, and we have been ready to help them, stand

together for freedom over tyranny. today i want to commemorate one of our most important allies, the people of serbia. for more than 130 years we've had a close relationship with the serbian people. i have on my staff here in washington a serbian american, lara, who is my victim advocate . when i was at the courthouse, elaine, who now runs the best children's assessment center in the world, worked for me. both of serbian descent. but our friendship with the --ians is based our -- serbians is based on our shared belief of democracy. both during world war i and world war ii, our countries battled on the same battlefield and our people shed the same blood together. because of that brotherhood, we have a special relationship. during world war i, austria-hungary tried to pick a fight through serbia.

of course, the deal, the ultimatum, wasn't a deal the purposefully unacceptable and meant to fight the two nations. despite being 10 times smaller than austria-hungary, serbia refused to back down and like the true david versus goliath, they fought against the central powers in world war i. in the end, 25% of the serbian population was killed during that war. despite the toll world war i took on serbia, when world war ii started, they were back helping us again, the united states. there are numerous accounts of bravery that the serbs conducted during world war ii, and a lot of that was not known until the world until repeatly and i just want to tell about

one of -- recently and i just want to tell about one of them. brotherhood was shown during the mission when serbian general drasda and serbian american george led a mission to save american pilots that had been downed -- shot down by nazi planes behind the lines in serbia. in 19 4, hundreds -- 1944, hundreds of b-17 and b-44 fighter pilots and their crew were shot down over what we now know as serbia. the general immediately began finding those pilots and members of the crew and hit them in barns and farm houses throughout serbia, wherever he could find them sheltered. he and his men and local serbian civilians hid our troops, they risked their lives in doing so, and many of them later paid the consequences when the nazis found out about it. when they radioed washington to

alert them his actions here in the united states, an o.s.s. agent found out and planned to -- planned a daring rescue mission. they trained them how to acted like serbs, sneak them into nazi territory to save their downed pilots and their crews. they would pick up the downed pilots. with the help of local serbs, the undercover soldiers and the general, they built a makeshift runway in just nine days. they had no sophisticated tools or machinery. they just used oxs, wagons and the tools they could find. allied planes land on that airstrip. i was fortunate to know one of those brave men, he risked his life to save those american downed pilots. and when he and his family

later came to the united states, he took time to find many of those downed pilots and crewmembers to meet with them once again. in total, the hayward mission saved 512 u.s. airmen, not one american was lost, although many serbs died in that attempt. unfortunately, the united states took the wrong side after the war and we signed up and supported tito. did not recognize mahalovich's deeds until recently and now he's been awarded the legion of merit and another received a bronze star from the united states. many americans and many american serbs served together then, and i want to congratulate the relationship and commemorate the relationship between the united states and serbia during the wars and the relationship the two countries have today. and that's just the way it is. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess un

>> politico writing this morning that house majority leader eric cantor's astonishing loss to an obscure economics professor sent shock waves through the house. cantor's defeat will trigger a major reassessment on what until now had been a promising 2014 primary season for the republican establishment. david brat took 56% of the vote to majority leader cantor's 44%. rye action has been coming in from viewers since results came out. dan writing, good riddance to

eric cantor. supporting cheap illegal alien labor may make the chamber of commerce and democrat leaders that want a ever dependent class of voters happy but is bad for the citizens of our nation. this from jim fleming, he says this should be a wake-up call for congress. people are very tired of business as usual. we'd like to see what you think. you can offer your remarks at facebook.com/c-span. elsewhere on capitol hill today, defense secretary chuck hagel is testifying on the administration's high profile -- five high profile prisoner change for army sergeant bergdahl. his hearing started just after 10:00 this morning. it's live on c-span radio and c-span.org. we'll show you as much of this as we can until the house returns at noon eastern.

>> those negotiates as we were told in a briefing last week started in january of this year. with the tape, with the other things that went forth. and i have been told in a couple of different briefings now that somewhere, i think the final number given to us a couple days ago, was somewhere between 80 and 90 people in the department of justice, state department, the homeland security, i guess was one of them, and department f defense knew about this. 80 to 90 people. the only one i know of that was elected was the president, perhaps the vice president. we don't know who those 80 or 90 people were. yet in all that time the leadership of the house that has the responsibility, a co-leadership according to the constitution, with the president

of the united states was not informed, not told of any of this. if you had, or somebody, i think you have the most credibility, but if you had been able to meet with the responsible people in the congress and give them the same story you just now gave us, the law would have been complied with, we didn't need to know the operational details. we didn't need to know anything of that other than the things that i mentioned that the law states. and full compliance with the law would have been met. and i don't think we would have pushed back at all. and yet when the law's ignored all we all have -- we feel keenly the responsibilities that we have. sometimes more than others. this is one of those times where this is a very important principle. and i wish that you or somebody had sat down with the leadership

of the congress, including the senate, and told us the same things that you just told us in your briefing here. i think it would have gone -- would have been very helpful in re-establishing or establishing or keeping the trust that we should have between the congress, the president of the united states, the supreme court , all of us trying to work together to the satisfaction of the constitution and the american people that we are all ent here to serve. , t me just ask one question secretary hagel, will the department fully cooperate with this committee's inquiry going forward with the detainee exchange including the recent

request that i sent a couple days ago for documents? >> absolutely, yes. >> thank you very much. thank you for your service in the military in uniform, in the senate, and now in this very tough job that you hold. mr. smith. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think two very important parts to this. one is one the chairman just mentioned which i'll get to in a second, but the first is this whole notion we have somehow broken precedent. that this negotiateation, we negotiated with terrorists in exchange, went against a long-standing u.s. policy. and i think that has been the central criticism, criticism from the speaker yesterday. i think it's just absolutely wrong given the situation that we are in, as you described it. we went to war in afghanistan. sergeant bergdahl was fighting in that war. we were fighting directly against the taliban. for the first couple months they

were the government. they were knocked out and they kept fighting as an insurgent force. could you walk us through -- maybe as the lawyer you could get into this, how you view this and whether or not this is unprecedented? it certainly doesn't seem to be. there are exchanges, as you mentioned, just about every war we have fought of prisoners. and whatever one may think of the taliban, we were fighting a war with them, it was a battle zone. it was not a diplomat or civilian. it was a member of the armed forces who was captured in that battle. do you think that we have set some precedent here for negotiating with terrorists? or is this clearly, as it is in my mind, in a different legal category? >> congressman smith, thank you. i as you noted alluded to some of this in general terms in my statement. two general comments to respond and then i'll ask mr. preston,

as you suggested, his thoughts. an extraordinary for the reasons i mentioned, i think, in the classified briefings that some of you attended, we'll get more into the extraordinary dynamics when we close this hearing down ad go into classified, it was very unique set of dynamics that we were dealing with. number one. on the precedent setting side of this i'm not the legal person here, but i do occasionally read , and i don't think there were any precedent set by this. as far as i know from past wars and how we have always gotten our prisoners back or attempted to get them back, time of war or allr a war, we can get into

the appropriate categorizations of hoe were combatants and who we are at war with. and who are terrorists. and we have legal definitions for all of those. but i said something at the beginning of my testimony here, i know -- i do think it plays into the larger scope of what we were dealing with. what we are dealing with. still dealing with. and will be dealing with. not just in afghanistan. you look at yemen, what's going on all over the world, what is unprecedented today is that -- is the threats and what we are up against around the world. organized, sophisticated terrorist groups. now, have we declared war on any of them? how would we define them other than some as terrorist groups, but these are different dynamics and unprecedented situations.

this country has never had to deal with before. i'll make one last comment and ask mr. preston for his legal opinion on your question. you-all have major responsibilities. we each in government have major responsibilities. i have the responsibility of getting up every morning, i got one responsibility, and that's the security of this country. that's what i'm charged with. that's what the president asked me to do. the senate confirmed me to do that. agreed to do it. i took the oath of office. we all take the same oath of office. and that's to the constitution and security of this contry. that's my primary focus every day. you-all have your focuses. not too dissimilar from mine, either, on some of these things. i just happen to have a moreaire re gauge than i do. the president of the united states has the ultimate responsibility for the security of this country. i just remind us of all of this.

it's imperfect, i know. and it might sound like an excuse, it's not. it's reality. i'll ask mr. preston. >> thank you. there's, of course a. good deal of detail, technical legal detail what constitutes a p.o.w. per se versus a detained combatant or privileged or unprivileged -- i don't think we need to get into that to answer your question. what we had here were detained combatants held by opposing forces in the same armed conflict. and as such this exchange falls within the tradition of prisoner exchanges between opposing forces in time of war. now, it is true that the taliban is not the conventional nation state that has been party to conventional armed conflict in

the past, but it's not the character of the holding party, it's the character of the detainee that inspires and motivates our commitment to the recovery of service members held abroad. we don't see this as setting a particular precedent vote because it does fall within that tradition of prisoner exchanges, and there have been in the past occasions where the united states has dealt with nonstate actors who are holding service -- a service member in order to achieve their recovery. >> can you give us a specific example? >> the one example i'm aware of is the helicopter pilot, michael durant, in somalia, who was held captive by the war lard, aided. the united states regained durant's freedom and

functionally in exchange for individuals that were captured in the same operation. >> i just want to say again, i think any characterization of this as negotiating with terrorists totally misses the fact that we were and are at war. and sergeant bergdahl was a member of the military fighting that war. on the gtmo piece, is it your opinion that at the end say 2014 we consider that to be the end of hostilities, which interesting argument because we are still going to have 10,000 troops there, but assuming at one point there was the possibility, these five would have had to have been released? was that the department's opinion? are they undecided? or feel the opposite? >> sir, the way i would answer that is to say we believe we have under domestic law specifically the aumf and international law, principles of the law of armed conflict, that we have authority to hold and

had the authority to hold these five at guantanamo as enemy bye lidge rants. >> and after the war? >> i'll speak to that. there were come a point in time where the armed conflicts we are engaged in with the taliban and al qaeda and their associates come to an end. and at that point the law of war rationale for continuing to hold these unprivileged bye lidge rants -- ba lidge rants would end -- belligerents would end. >> not just the war in afghanistan. >> that's right. >> the broader battle as defined under the aumf. >> further point i would make is that i'm not aware of any determination as yet that with the cessation of the current combat mission at the end of this year that the armed conflicts are determined to be over such that it would trigger the consequences that we have been discussing.

>> thank you. the last thing i'll say, no need to respond to, this i'll just re-emphasize a point the chairman made and point i made in my opening statement, it would be -- let me just say the department of defense in my experience has been very good about consulting with us and about working with this body. it's not about that. the white house, on the other hand, has not been very good about keeping in touch with congress, working with us, consulting with us on major policy issues. it's sort of hit or miss. if we could do better at that it would make my job a whole lot easier if we could just trust congress a little bit and have those consultations before policy decisions are finalized. i think it would have made this entire town work better than it is right now. i yield back. sergio martinez the gentleman yields back. there are two things i need to clarify. d you, mr. preston, say that

at some point conflict would end and then we would release these people? or we would have to release them? there would be no reason to hold them? and that that conflict is ending in december of this year? >> sir, the point was when the armed conflict ends, the international law basis for continuing to hold people who are being held on the basis of their membership -- >> i'm sorry, mr. preston, you have to point out which armed conflict you're talking about. your answer was not the armed conflict in afghanistan. it was the one is defined under the aumf, in other words, as long as we are fighting al qaeda, and as long as we are fighting their associated forces, that is the armed conflict that you were talking about being over not afghanistan. i believe that's the point of the chairman's question. >> the point we are currently in armed conflict with the taliban and with al qaeda. at some point the armed conflict with the taliban ends.

and at that point for those detainees that are being held as enemy belligerents against our enemy, the taliban, unless there is additional basis for holding them, then we would no longer have that international law basis for holding them. it has been suggested that taliban may also be -- be held as associates of al qaeda as the conflict with al qaeda continues. >> this conflict may not end in december just because the majority is that your understanding? >> that's my understanding as well, sir. >> we thought the conflict was over in iraq and we see that it is not. it continues to go on. now, second thing, i